On December 14, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced his resignation after being charged with fraud and breach of trust.
"I have decided to resign my post as foreign minister and deputy prime minister and ... also to remove my (parliamentary) immunity forthwith so I can end this matter quickly, without delay and clear my name absolutely," Lieberman said in an emailed statement. The resignation of the extremist right wing politician will undoubtedly have an impact on next month’s general elections in Israel, given that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau and Lieberman’s Israel Beitenu are the strongest links in the current coalition.
There will be no tears among Palestinians over the resignation. Lieberman has always been the cause of much anger among Palestiians because of his racist and inflammatory statements againt them, a trend that hit an alltime high this week. After a Hebron incident last week when Israeli soldiers were filmed fleeing and hiding from Palestiian protesters including preventive security forces, Lieberman was quoted as saying on December 9: “It is unacceptable that Palestinian police slap and punch IDF soldiers and stay alive.”
Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai was perceived as altering Israeli rules of engagement even, making similar statements on the subject:
“In my opinion IDF soldiers should make maximal use of all weapons at their disposal if there is a threat to their lives, and they need to know they will have full support and understanding from all authorities if they have to do that.”
The repercussions of such incendiary comments were felt almost immediately on December 12 when an Israeli soldier in Hebron shot and killed a 17-year old boy on his birthday. Mohammed Salaymeh was going to pick up a cake and some treats from the corner store in Hebron’s old city when he was stopped by Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint, apparently deemed suspicious by one of the female soldiers on duty who proceeded to shoot him dead with several bullets.
Mohammed’s death caused shockwaves throughout the city and all of Palestine, with Palestinians accusing the goverment’s policy on more lax shooting orders for the killing. The Israeli army claims the boy brandished a toy gun at the soldiers, who believed it to be real and therefore felt “their lives were in danger.” The trigger-happy soldier who killed Mohammed says she does not regret it. “I am just happy no soldiers were wounded in the incident,” she claimed callously.
The Salaymeh family denies Mohammed was carrying a toy gun while Palestinian rights groups also dispute the allegation. The youth’s uncle claims the Israeli police's version of events were totally fabricated.
"We live in a place which is like a military base for Israeli forces; dozens of soldiers are spread out over the area, checkpoints and cameras are everywhere to watch our movements," he said. "Every resident knows exactly the difficulties anyone will have for just carrying a black plastic bag...Mohammad lived in this area and was aware that any unusual movement will put him in trouble...Why would he pull out a weapon and point it at soldiers? "
Following the teen’s death, clashes broke out throughout Hebron and after his funeral, which was attended by thousands of Palestinians. Up to 90 Palestinians have been injured in clashes with Israeli troops since Wednesday the 12th.
On the same day as Mohammed’s death, Israeli soldiers also beat and injured two Reuters cameramen and forced them to strip in the street. They then threw a tear gas canister in front of them, which ended in one of the journalists being taken to hospital.
The two journalists, Yousri Al Jamal and Ma'amoun Wazwaz said a foot patrol stopped them as they were driving to a nearby checkpoint in a car clearly marked 'TV'. They said the soldiers forced them out of the car and punched them, striking them with the butts of their guns.
Two other Palestinian journalists working for local news organizations were also stopped and forced to the ground before soldiers threw a tear gas canister between them.
Yesterday, December 14 also saw huge crowds in Hebron, this time to celebrate teh 25th anniversary of Hamas’ inception. Rallies were also held in Ramallah, Tulkarm and other areas of the West Bank. The first, central festival took place on December 13 in Nablus where scores of Hamas supporters and also Fatah and PLO officials celebrated the annivesrary. This is the first time since the political split between Hamas and Fatah in 2007 that Hamas has been allowed to hold rallies in the West Bank. Likewise, Hamas is said to have given permission to Fatah to hold a festival in Gaza on the occasion of its founding anniversary which falls on January 1.
The good will gestures come as part of overall reconciliation efforts continue to gain momentum between the two movements. PLC Speaker and Hamas-affiliate Aziz Dweik said Hamas celebrations in the West Bank are raising the slogan of "national unity and victory against the occupier." On December 12, Fatah official Azzam Al Ahmad said President Mahmoud Abbas made a phone call to Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal discussing ways to end the division according to prior agreements. Al Ahmad also met Mashaal on Wednesday the 12th as part of efforts to expedite the implementtion of a reconciliation deal.
On December 11, the Israeli government announced tenders for an additional 92 housing units in the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim. This comes after last week’s announcement that 3,000 new units would be built in the so-called E1 region of the West Bank. The European Union, always critical of Israel’s settlement policies, was particularly scathing this time around.
It said it was "deeply dismayed by and strongly opposes Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem," in a statement released a day before.
The EU called on the two sides to move immediately to engage in "direct and substantial negotiations without preconditions" also urging Israel not to react to the U.N. vote granting the Palestinians observer state status by cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority
"Contractual obligations ... regarding full, timely, predictable and transparent transfer of tax and custom revenues have to be respected," it said on December 10.
Israel, of course, has not heeded the call, saying on December 13 that it would not transfer tax revenues to the Palestinians before March in the least. PLO executive commitee member Yasser Abed Rabbo called the move "piracy and theft".
Instead Israel said it would use the funds to pay off PA electricty and even water debts owed to Israeli companies. On December 13, Israel's finance ministry formally transferred ILS 435 million shekels from the tax revenues to pay debts to the Israeli electric company, which was confirmed by Hisham Al Omari, director of the Palestinian Jerusalem Electricity Company.
In all, Palestinian providers owe the Israeli supplier around ILS 820 million, of which 500 million are his company's debt, Al Omari said, adding that the company paid off another 15 million shekels this week, so the outstanding debts now total ILS 370 shekels.
The lack of transferred funds unfortunately means that Palestinian employees in the public sector have still not been paid November salaries, with governmnt officials unable to give them a precise date as to when they will be able to deliver.
Much depends on whether the Arabs will come through with thier promise to provide a financial safety net for the Palestinians, a promise made at the last Arab summit. On December 9, Arab states agreed to provide the Palestinian Authority with $100 million to help the government cope with its ongoing financial crisis. In a statement after the meeting in Doha, Arab foreign ministers called for the immediate implementation of a resolution passed in March, which called for the provision of a $100 million monthly safety net. Palestinians said the PA would need as much as $240 million a month to meet its obligations.
On the ground, Israel continued with its attacks on the land with 200 olive trees being uprooted on December 14 in the Bethlehem-area village of Al Khader. Attacks also came in the form of an overnight Israeli army raid into Ramallah on December 11. The troops raided a number of NGO offices including Addameer, a prisoner rights organization and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees in Qaddura refugee camp, from which they seized seven computers, servers, cameras and ILS 3,000. According to the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, Israeli forces also took four computers, a hard drive, a video camera and business cards from Addameer in addition to ransacking the offices before leaving.
In a statement of condemnation, PHROC said “the brutal raid was part of the continuous campaign to target and hinder the work of human rights organizations and their supporters, as well as to gather information on the employees of civil society organizations."
Finally, on December 13, the Israel High Court called for a rerouting of the separation wall on ancient farmland in the West Bank village of Battir, ruling that 500 meters of the wall was under dispute. The villlage is known for its famed agricultural steppes, which are slated to be put on UNESCO’s list of heritage sites.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
